When does your house start to feel like home? For many, it's not when you put your final signature on the stack of paperwork that never seems to end. Rather, a house starts to feel like home when you put your own personal touches on it. The time spent around this is often filled with a flurry of activities around the house. HIRI’s newly released Recent Home Buyer Study examines those who have purchased a home within the last year and digs deep into what type of work they have done and plan to do to their house.

Consumers rely on the media for information and inspiration for home improvement projects.

From traditional advertising in magazines and on the radio to modern social media channels, blogs, and websites, consumers turn to the media for many home improvement-related needs. Like many other aspects of society, media has changed over the years, transitioning from newspapers and radio to social media and the internet.

Word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family were the top source for project planning information in 2011. Websites eclipsed friends and family sources with a subtle 3 percent growth between 2011 and 2017, making the internet the top source for project planning information. But when it comes time to gather inspiration for projects, nearly 30 percent of consumers are still more likely to visit a home improvement retailers’ store for ideas compared to 18 percent of consumers who would browse the website instead.

What’s stopping home improvement projects from getting done?

HIRI’s Barriers to Home Improvement research details the various factors that contribute to home improvement projects being put on the back burner. From lack of time and financial resources to indecision about the right products to buy or professionals to hire, around 32 percent of projects are postponed or completely disregarded — with bathroom and kitchen remodels at the top of the list.

Past speaker and frequent attendee Grant Farnsworth, director of business development at The Farnsworth Group, caught up with us to share why he thinks the Insights Conference is a can’t-miss event for home improvement industry professionals.

After posting strong market growth last year, the home improvement products market is expected to grow by an additional 5.3 percent in 2018. Housing starts are also projected to grow due to rising demand, lean inventories and rising prices.

The Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) partnered with IHS Markit to develop the U.S. Size of Market Report. This report delves into the recent IHS Economics forecast and looks at the forecast for the U.S. market through 2022.

This quarterly report examines planned home improvement activity across 30 project areas such as room renovations, roofing, lawn and garden updates, driveway repair, plumbing and electrical projects. This first quarterly report of 2018 also marks the beginning of a new tracking element. The Home Improvement Research Insitute (HIRI) added a question regarding planned budgets for home improvement projects. The newest addition revealed that less than half of all planned projects have budgets.

Join HIRI to obtain the most up-to-date consumer information with trends from 2012 to 2018.

The level of home improvement activity varies by life stage. Home improvement projects have been delayed for millennials who are entering marriage and homebuying later in life than their parents. However, the oldest millennials are now in their 30s and making moves. Now the largest generation, millennials are undertaking more home improvement projects today than they were two years ago, beating out their older counterparts by at least 19 percent.

But one thing millennials have in common with Generation X is the weight they place on self-expression. After moving out of the adolescent phase, they tend to let their independence and self-expression influence their decisions. This importance of self-expression can explain why almost 80 percent of people believe their home is a reflection of who they are, and 83 percent of recent homebuyers make improvements to their new home.